Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation • Hacker News Board

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#211

Post by kcanini » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:32 AM UTC

bhaile wrote: post #154

Interesting comment from Bill Maris from Axios. Bill Maris, who founded Google's venture capital arm and reported directly to Drummond before quitting in 2016, tells Axios... "The news of David Drummond leaving Google today brings to mind a quote from one of my most favorite creatures. 'At an end, your rule is. And not short enough, it was.' I had been asked in the past why I left Google in 2016, and I have never rea…

I worked for Bill for about a year at GV. He was one of the friendliest managers I've ever met at Google.

I randomly met Dave Drummond once at a coffee shop in Sausalito (I didn't know who he was at the time... he just commented on my Google shirt), and he gave me an inexplicably uncomfortable feeling.

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#212

Post by tmpz22 » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:35 AM UTC

unapologetic wrote: post #181

ksec wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this sums up not just big cooperate, but large part of our society in general as well. ( May be a bigger problem in US than other parts of the world, but still a problem ) I often wonder why realistic people are called cynical, even when they are facts happening everywhere in a statistically large sums. Do others live in fairy land?

Because when you simply accept the world as is, it looks a lot like you're endorsing the status quo. Especially on this site where a lot of people seem to take a weird pseudo-detached outlook. Trying to analyze things in an almost entirely emotionless judgement free manner. I think this is seen by people as enlightened. Personally I find it genuinely disturbing. It becomes hard to tell where this sort of detached ana…

Its telling that the people touting this view most often directly benefited from the situation they are now conveniently apathetic towards.

1. Make millions of dollars doing grey area work

2. Grey area work is now identified as black hat work

3. "Thats just the way it is"

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#213

Post by theli0nheart » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:35 AM UTC

glogla wrote: post #210

theli0nheart wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely disagree. Power and influence allow one to be a shitty person without having to deal with the consequences that other folks might, so the situations where that happens are outrageous and rightfully get a lot of exposure. However, this is a consequence of the fact that you already need to be powerful. Unless you get lucky, or otherwise hit the jackpot, you generally have to be a nice person to work your w…

> Long-term, not so much. People tend to remember shitty behavior. People remember Amazon workers have to piss in bottles to not get fired, but they don't stop shopping there. People know of Chinese factories with anti-suicide nets but they keep buying iPhones.

> People remember Amazon workers have to piss in bottles to not get fired, but they don't stop shopping there.

Sorry, but this has nothing to do with the point I was making.

If someone screws you over in business, you're going to try to avoid working with that person in the future. That's just common-sense.

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#214

Post by big_chungus » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:37 AM UTC

toiletfuneral wrote: post #188

minikites wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then the shareholders punish them: https://www.vox.com/new-money/2017/4/29/15471634/american-ai... >American Airlines agreed this week to do something nice for its employees and arguably foresighted for its business by giving flight attendants and pilots a preemptive raise, in order to close a gap that had opened up between their compensation and the compensation paid by rival airlines Delta and United. >Wall Str…

Can anyone explain why they're downvoting this? I know anecdotally My employer constantly gets in trouble during earnings calls from shareholders for doing anything remotely environmentally responsible because it impacts margins. It's pretty clear capital has no intention of being ethical at the cost of profit

Because it's being phrased as "punishment", which implies some kind of punitive action. "Oh the greenies are putting trees over green, we'll show them! Watch your share price tank!" That's not what happens. It's a bunch of quants sitting and running the numbers forward a few years to estimate numbers and price accordingly, not a conscious decision to punish. The big traders don't really have a particular attachment to a given company and just buy and sell accordingly. A big chunk of it's algorithmic anyways. If it decreases profit, a company can expect to see a decrease in share price because the company will likely be worth less in a few years. The phrasing of the parent implies it's an intended or targeted action, but that's not how markets work.

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#215

Post by mellosouls » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:39 AM UTC

joncrane wrote: post #197

loganfrederick wrote: post #79

I really liked Ben Horowitz's new book "What You Do Is Who You Are". However, the only passage that I disliked and stood out to me is when he defended David Drummond for his ability to thrive at Google for a long time despite the corporate culture changing. This was after Drummond was called out publicly for abandoning his kid he had with a subordinate: https://www.law.com/corpcounsel/2018/10/25/report-alphabet-c...…

Assuming that the story in https://medium.com/@jennifer.blakely is accurate, that man is a monster.

David was married and had a son

She's not exactly squeaky clean either.

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#216

Post by natch » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:41 AM UTC

EForEndeavour wrote: post #64

thrwn_frthr_awy wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've heard it already. They literally had a "masseuse room" where Sergey would have sex with employees inside the Google building.

This phrasing is a bit misleading. It makes it sound like Sergey had designated a room exclusively for sex with employees and called it the "masseuse room." To be precise, Google's offices include private massage rooms in which employees can get professional massages. Sergey allegedly had sex in one or more of these rooms.

Oh, that makes it fine, then. Carry on. /s

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#217

Post by big_chungus » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:42 AM UTC

onetimemanytime wrote: post #56

unapologetic wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not irrelevant, it's a blatant abuse of power. This guy is clearly a pretty sick sort of predator. > How dare a married, billionaire cheater not settle down with her but continue to sleep with other women? He basically got her fired and then bailed on her and their son. He refused to pay child support despite being a millionaire and is basically in an abusive relationship with her still. It's disgusting. It's th…

>>This guy is clearly a pretty sick sort of predator. Maybe he was the prey. You cannot refuse to pay child support, it's one option you do not have. Play hard ball in response to stuff etc maybe, but you will pay in the end. She should have named her price upfront. All consensual and he is a d*ck and a moron in a sense, as a billionaire, he could have used his pocket change and made her happy $$ wise. Now he gets ba…

> Maybe he was the prey

I assume you're positing that she tried to start an affair and get pregnant for child support? Nobody really knows, and it would be a "he-said-she-said" issue. What we do know is that unless he was raped (and there was no charge made of that sort and didn't happen), he made his choice and can deal with the consequences. If he didn't want to deal with the consequences then he shouldn't have fathered a bastard.

> She should have named her price upfront.

I'd support changing the law, but as it stands today and stood then, that's prostitution and illegal.

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#218

Post by dang » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:48 AM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #4

stopads wrote: post #2

It's pretty wild that he was there since 2002, he's practically a founder.

He specifies that he was there over 20 years, prior to the company being incorporated, and only joined full-time in 2002. That being said: David Drummond is a terrible person[0], who only has been there this long because of Larry Page and Sergey Brin's protection, because they are terrible people too[1][2]. The way Google's highest executives have treated women is disgusting and inexcusable. And while Drummond may no…

Please keep the "terrible person" trope off HN. The online call-out culture is good for shaming and indignation, but it wrecks curious conversation. Here we want curious conversation.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#219

Post by dang » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:49 AM UTC

zepto wrote: post #75

There is nothing toxic about Google’s culture. These are normal events in any organization of this size. They are just as focussed as ever on organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible.

Please don't do this here.

Re: Alphabet’s Chief Legal Officer Stepping Down Amid Investigation

#220

Post by aluminussoma » Sat, Jan 11, 2020, 1:49 AM UTC

kcanini wrote: post #211

bhaile wrote: post #154

Interesting comment from Bill Maris from Axios. Bill Maris, who founded Google's venture capital arm and reported directly to Drummond before quitting in 2016, tells Axios... "The news of David Drummond leaving Google today brings to mind a quote from one of my most favorite creatures. 'At an end, your rule is. And not short enough, it was.' I had been asked in the past why I left Google in 2016, and I have never rea…

I worked for Bill for about a year at GV. He was one of the friendliest managers I've ever met at Google. I randomly met Dave Drummond once at a coffee shop in Sausalito (I didn't know who he was at the time... he just commented on my Google shirt), and he gave me an inexplicably uncomfortable feeling.

I think it is a bad idea to say this about him without providing a concrete example on how he made you uncomfortable. I'm sure I have accidentally made someone uncomfortable before. Does that make me a bad person? I hope not.